I know my place

In a corner of SW1, the disaster management committee of the Department for Education is meeting.

[Present are Sir Charles Mandrake, the permanent secretary, and key civil servants drawn from across the department: Dr Lydia Boyle, director general of lifelong instruction, Maurice Wainwright, senior executive officer for inspection, Karen Prendergast, director of communication and public rebuttal, and Yvonne Smith, executive assistant, wellbeing.]

Mandrake: Thank you all for coming this morning. As you know it’s been a busy time at the DfE but now the Augar review is out of the way and we have a Brexit extension until 31 October. So, I thought it best to meet to discuss transition arrangements for the new government.